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…..'A sense of humour lends you poise, it gives you balance and it helps you to bend without breaking'…..

(HH Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda)

Monday is menosukhi day - the one in which I go all sentimental. For a few weeks this means you are sharing my memories of two darling creatures, Jade Dog MacWoof and Jasper Cat MacMeow.

When we
moved to 21a after six years at no.36, it took all three of us some time to
adjust. A property one third the size
can feel a tad restrictive.

Jasper,
whom you have read is inclined to climb then seek lowering assistance, seemed
to forget that he had ever needed any help and had a great time getting up and
down places.

"Did you say chicken strips?"

A spot
which fast became a favourite was the roof of the courtyard shed, which I had
transformed into a laundry. There was a
'liquid amber' tree right beside it which provided sufficient traction for the
upwards journey. Then on the opposite
side was the ladder and a wheely-bin, onto which he could drop. There was only one misadventure involving
calling mum to use the ladders yet again…
How in the name of St Francis he ever managed to get ON the roof of the
house is beyond me. But mine was not to
question why - and thank heavens the ladders were long enough for this rescue
job. Despite this little hiccup, he
became a very adept mountaineer. Also an adventurer.

He was
always inclined to roam the neighbourhood, but at no. 36 I never got to know
anyone other than the immediate three and Merry. This all changed in
our new suburb. We had arrived in a
place of community and long-term residence.
The J's revelled in the attention everyone paid them, especially when
out on walks. Every second house would
have somebody wanting to say hello, petting and patting and sharing
history. Where houses stood now, orchards
once had been and a lucky few still had original trees in their gardens!

For our
first three years at 21a, then, we were never short of pears, oranges,
mandarins, persimmons, lemons, plums… thankfully neither of the J's particularly favoured these fruits, so I 'scored'!

Of
course, as happens everywhere, that began to change. The aging population began to dwindle in one
way or another and young busy families bought in. It was an affordable
'starter' suburb in a housing market that had gone haywire post-Olympics. (I bought just six months prior and almost
immediately after the 2000 Sydney games the value all but doubled!)

Now the
J's had to adjust to having kids pawing all over them. Jasper tolerated this for only a matter of
minutes, mostly. Jade, however, figured
out that two-leggers of a certain vintage were inclined to want to play. They
could be conned into throwing toys for hours on end.

Many a
family who had been petless to that point found the joy of having an animal
around. Some of the mothers who were
prone to the modern "don't touch that you'll catch something!"
mentality, started to relax and others who were convinced dogs were baby-eating
machines, discovered they were actually rather fun. Two families that I am aware of ended up
adopting puppies as a direct result of their positive experience with
Jade. They were responsible folks and
saw to it that good training was put in place - particularly for the kids! There was one family however, for whom life
was a conundrum. Of these I shall write
next week. Meanwhile , please enjoy
these garden photos from 21a.

Jasper was a keen sun-bather, true Aussie that he was!

...and Jade was ever on 'the sniff'. Had I thought about it early enough, she'd have made a great search and rescue dog...

Oh, yes, I'm sure Jade converted a lot of people. Lindy does that, too. Just yesterday, some of the children from next door (big family) were petting her and saying, "We're cat people, but we LOVE your dog."Interspecies ambassadors, your Jade and our Lindy.I once had a cat who, unlike Jasper, loved children. He also loved puppies and kittens, and used to follow me on dog walks. I really enjoy your stories of Jasper and Jade. Keep them coming.Luv, K